<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1zMAMD_1GqBIjpo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1zMAMD_1GqBIjpo00" width="1800" height="1200" ><figcaption>Salmon Pond on the edge of Whitney Park. Photo courtesy of Protect the Adirondacks. Credit: Image provided by Protect the Adirondacks</figcaption></figure>The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities. We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations.The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.<h2>Now is the time to protect the 36,000-acre Whitney Park Property</h2>Protect the Adirondacks! Inc. and other environmental and conservation groups have long urged the protection of the 36,000-acre Whitney Park property. It’s vital to the future of the Adirondack Park that Whitney Park is conserved in perpetuity with permanent protection.Whitney Park is currently owned and being sold by a trust set up by the Estate of John Hendrickson. Hendrickson, the husband of Marylou Whitney, died unexpectedly in 2024. Recently, the listing price was dropped to $106.5 million. Now is the time for the state or a bona fide conservation buyer to purchase this keystone piece of property in the heart of the Adirondacks. Those in support of protection of the Whitney Park property are speaking out to ensure the long-term conservation of this critical parcel of land.“Protecting a large, undeveloped property like Whitney Park is critical to reaching New York State’s mandated 30×30 goal and for strengthening our climate resiliency as extreme natural disasters and 100-year weather events become more frequent,” said State Sen. Patricia Fahy, original sponsor of New York’s 30 by 30 law. “Preserving open space and our natural resources for generations to come is how we ensure that we’re leaving a better world in the hands of posterity, while supporting our local family farms and landowners seeking to preserve their land rather than develop it, like the Whitney Park property. We cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity to conserve a unique and special property for future generations and further our progress towards preserving 30% of New York State’s land and water by 2030.”The protection of Whitney Park’s sensitive natural resources offers enumerable benefits to New Yorkers, including clean air and water, public recreational opportunities and climate change mitigation and resiliency.“State acquisition of the Whitney Park property, preferably its entirety, makes sense in so many ways. One of the last undeveloped expanses of land in New York, Whitney Park will offer immense environmental and recreational benefits for future generations,” said State Sen. Pete Harckham, chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. “Keeping this land in its pristine condition and adding it to the other adjoining forest preserves in the Adirondacks is a decision no one will ever regret.”Whitney Park has been eyed by generations of Adirondack conservationists and state officials because it is a cornerstone of a protected Adirondack Park, a missing link for historic public canoe routes that ran north-south and east-west through the property, and as a vital missing piece in the protected forest in that region.“The Whitney property has always been central to efforts to secure important lands and waters in the Park. It represents in effect an east/west; north/south crossroad in the Park essential for wildlife and wilderness recreation,” said Thomas Jorling, former commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation.The best buyer for this unique and highly sensitive, undevelopable property is the State of New York or a land trust that is committed to conservation of the property. The long-standing conservation priorities and goals of the state and the legacy of the Whitney family would be served by permanent protection of Whitney Park.“Permanent protection for Whitney Park would honor the legacy of the Whitney family who cared for their Adirondack lands for over a century. The remaining 36,000-acre parcel in the heart of the Adirondacks is adjacent to the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, which was part of Whitney Park until it was sold to the State in 1997 and added to the Forest Preserve. It would be a travesty if the last of the Whitney Park lands are not conserved as intact forest. After all Marylou Whitney and her family have done for New York, the least we can do is preserve her legacy and critical lands for all of New Yorkers to enjoy,” said Joanne Dittes Yepsen, former mayor of Saratoga Springs.Hochul and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton have recognized the importance of protecting the Whitney Park property and have expressed an interest in the state purchasing a vast majority of Whitney Park. However, there has been no indication that the trustees selling the property are willing to negotiate with the state. “We are grateful for Governor Hochul’s interest in adding this highest priority, critical and sizeable tract of land to the State-owned Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks,” said Claudia Brayer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks. “If that is not possible at this time, then we are confident that a land trust will step up to purchase this outstanding property.”“The availability of Whitney Park for purchase by the State or a land trust continues to present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to preserve a vast and ecologically vital landscape in the central Adirondacks,” said Roger Downs, conservation director, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “We know that the Hochul Administration is committed to the protection of New York’s open space resources, and we appreciate that this is a complicated land transaction. We remain hopeful that a long-term conservation success can be achieved with the protection of Whitney Park for the future of New York.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=03OHMV_1GqBIjpo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=03OHMV_1GqBIjpo00" width="800" height="1035" ></figure></div></body>

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The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities. We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations.

COMMENTARY: Calls continue for protecting Whitney Park

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The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topi

COMMENTARY: Calls continue for protecting Whitney Park

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